Archive for September, 2014

One of the biggest letdown of Redmi Note is the below average volume that causes frustration even on maximum level. Be it normal ringing and notification, media playback, and even on loudspeaker.. Basically everything is below average.

Good thing its all tweakable via software side (and every Redmi Note should be able to do this no matter if you are on stock or custom ROM, rooted or not). As usual, I will show the process in the simplest way I can. However please bare in mind that I will not be responsible for any damages that happens to you or your device and proceed at own risk. Although I did this on both of my Redmi Note set without any damage or issues (it became a better phone actually!).

1. Open your dialler and dial *#*#3646633#*#* this will get you into Android engineer mode

2. Once in, swipe to the left until you see ‘Hardware Testing’ tab.

3. Tap on ‘Audio’.

4. From here you will need to enter ‘Normal Mode’ (the phone ring, notification, the primary speaker functions) then ‘Headset Mode’ (headphones) and ‘Loudspeaker Mode’ (handsfree call). As you will be doing the same stuffs on all 3 section, I will just show you how to (in detail) change one of it and you should be able to repeat the steps for the other two yourself. For now, tap on ‘Normal Mode’ and you will see the next image.

5. Change Max Vol to 160 then tap ‘set’. You will see the following confirmation.

6. Now tap ‘OK’ and tap on ‘sip’ (on the ‘type’ field) and you will get the following list.

7. Select ‘Sph’ and you will see the next image (notice that max vol field is greyed out).

8. A brief explanation, level ranges from 0 to 6. Its like a volume knob where 0 is lowest and 6 is the highest. From here I like to do things backwards. Remember we have initially set max vol to 160. So 160 will be the maximum volume that we should have / set for level 6. So let’s go to level 6 by tapping on ‘Level 0’ then tap ‘Level 6’ like below.

9. Set / change Level 6 value to 160 and tap on ‘set’ to save.

10. So from here you can lower down the value for level 5, then lower it some more for level 4, and lower it further for level 3 until level 0. Whatever you do, you want a higher value then default. Here’s my new value :

– Below average volume (fixable with minor software tweak)
– An average camera quality (a lot of noise if you ask me)
– The 8GB internal storage limitation (no higher capacity offered at the moment for Redmi Note) – No capability to store pictures and application data to SD card (v30 have save picture to SD card but not officially available for Malaysian users yet – although you may flash it yourself manually – and of course software tweak avaialble for phone to see SD card as its main memory, surpassing the 8GB limitation).
– No NFC support (bummer!)

So what about the rest? Remember, this is a $157 phone that we are talking about. Apart from the cons listed above, the rest are just fantastic.
– Cheap @ RM509
– 5.5′ HD IPS display (720p, not full HD)
– Good battery life (Can stand up to a day of moderate to heavy use)
– Dual sim
– Design does not look cheap! (I love the design!)
– A lot of accessories on the internet
– It’s an Octacore! (Ok its fast)

If you plan to get one of these. Id say just grab it, it’s worth the every buck you spend.

Here is my battery life screenshot with mobile data and wifi turned on throughout the day (and night).

6 hours of screen time with a day plus of battery life is good enough for me. I still remember using my old Samsung Galaxy S3 that stuggled to last even 8 hours with screen time almost to 3 hours under the same condition (data and wifi turned on).

The aftermarket battery cover replacement feels nice to the touch. It has this matte feel and offers more grip then the standard cover. Also, no more fingerprints (except the little exposed area near the camera)